For six years, I was Hazel, girlfriend to the future Alpha, Julian. I thought we had forever, a cherished place in our werewolf pack, even as a human. Then Mate Hunt night ripped it all away. I woke up lost in the forest, only to find Julian with her – his true fated mate. His words hit harder than the forest floor: I was just a 'placeholder.' Six years together, and he tossed me aside, his fingers bruising my throat as he growled that I meant nothing. My world, my heart – shattered.

Left for dead, freezing and injured, a different kind of predator found me. A colossal black wolf, eyes glowing gold, big enough to swallow me whole. But instead of tearing me apart, he curled around me, a warm, terrifying shield against the biting cold. For a moment, I felt safe.

That safety vanished when my pack, my family, found us. The Alpha who raised me, Maxen, didn't see a survivor. He saw a disappointment. Turns out, he’d only taken me in hoping I’d magically become a werewolf like my mother – the fated mate who’d rejected him. When I couldn't shift, he cast me out, branding me an omega, the pack’s punching bag.

Now, I'm less than nothing, surviving on scraps and enduring their cruelty. What they don't know, what I don't know, is that my monstrous protector is no ordinary rogue. He's Lykos, the wolf of Kael, the Lycan King. And Lykos has decided I am his fated mate – a human. Kael is furious, but his wolf has a will of its own, dragging the King himself towards my abusive pack.

My old life is over. My only ally is a creature of legend. And the most feared Lycan in existence is on his way. Is he coming to save me, or is the King's arrival just another nightmare waiting to begin?

The blood projectiles froze mid-air just inches from my chest, suspended like rubies in amber. The wave of corrosive magic rippled harmlessly around my boots, unable to touch me. Neither attack required my conscious attention to neutralize.


"Are you finished?" I asked, inspecting my nails.


Isabeau's eyes widened, her child-like face contorting with disbelief. "That's not possible. You didn't even cast a counter-spell!"


I sighed. "Counter-spells are for those who need them."


With a dismissive flick of my wrist, I sent her own blood projectiles hurling back toward her. She barely managed to dissolve them before they pierced her body, sweat beading on her forehead from the effort.


"You used to understand power," I said, taking another casual step forward. "Now you think it's about blood rituals and borrowed magic."


Chapter 76 - Chapter 76 - A God's Disdain